"The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only." ~Victor Hugo

Chapter 1: All Grown Up

"So, I hear your brother is moving back to town."

Wiping his hands on a nearby rag, Seifer extracted himself from underneath the car he'd been working on and stood to face the man who had, once again, entered his garage un-announced.

"Axel."

The red haired man crossed his arms and grinned. "So is it true or not?"

Seifer rolled his eyes and tossed the rag on a nearby workbench. "Apparently his uncle is opening a store nearby and he's coming with him to help with the work." He glanced over at his friend. "Why the sudden interest?"

Axel shrugged. "No reason." He examined the nails on his right hand. "Sooo…is he cute?"

"Jesus, Axel."

"What? Inquiring minds want to know."

Seifer sighed and moved past the grinning idiot out of the garage and towards his house. "What mind? The only thing you do any thinking with is below your belt."

"You're avoiding the question, man."

"I am not. I haven't seen Hayner in nearly 12 years; the last time I saw him he was just a kid. The only thing I remember is that he had blonde hair and a pair of big brown eyes."

Axel frowned. "He's your brother though…wouldn't you have kept in touch?"

"Step-brother and then only for two years."

It was true. Hayner and Seifer's parents had met when the boys were both young and had gotten married when Seifer was only seven; Hayner had been five. Hayner had been a fairly cute kid, all knees and elbows, and he'd taken to following after Seifer like a puppy. For someone who'd never had a sibling vying for attention, Seifer had been annoyed at first but had quickly gotten over it, letting everyone he came across know that the little brown eyed boy trotting in his shadow was his little brother. All that had come to an end, however, when Seifer turned nine. His dad and Hayner's mom decided that they just weren't happy together and filed for a divorce. The last time Seifer had even seen Hayner was as the little boy had waved goodbye out the back window of his mom's car with tears running down his cheeks.

"Are you at least going to go say hi to him?" Axel asked, interrupting his friend's thoughts.

Seifer shrugged. "I'm sure we'll probably run into each other at some point; this isn't exactly the largest town on the planet."

Axel huffed. "I'd have thought you'd at least be a little bit excited to see Hayner again."

"We were kids and it was a long time ago; I doubt he even really remembers me."

Going back to finish his work, Seifer couldn't help but think about the little kid he once called his brother. Regardless of what he may have led Axel to believe, the former bully had often thought about Hayner over the years and wondered how he was doing. As kids, Hayner's size had often made him the target of bullying and Seifer had taken to protecting him; that was how he'd actually gotten the scar that cut across his face.

He'd heard the fight before he actually saw it but he knew from the voice that Hayner was involved. Following the noise to an alley near their home, the blue eyed, then 8 year old, Seifer had found Hayner on the ground with three other older boys standing around him; one was holding a broken piece of glass like a knife and Hayner's cheek was bleeding. He hadn't even stopped to consider the danger; his little brother was in danger and needed him. Hayner had cried off and on for weeks after that just looking at the cut Seifer had taken in his defense. It had hurt more than he'd let on but he just shrugged it off; the older boy had hated to see Hayner cry.

Shaking his head to clear the memories, Seifer reminded himself that twelve years was a long time and that people change; he really didn't expect Hayner to remember him at all, let alone want to see him. They weren't even related so there really wasn't anything to draw them together anymore. Letting out a sigh, the scarred man reminded himself that he had work to do and that lapsing into sentimentality wasn't going to get him anywhere.

"So are you going to go see him?"

Hayner sighed and continued moving boxes. "I doubt he remembers me, Rikku."

The green eyed girl hopped up on a nearby counter. "But he's your brother!"

"He was my brother for all of two years and I haven't seen him since I was seven."

"What does that have to do with anything? You still think about him, and don't pretend that you don't."

Hayner put down his burden and stood with a stretch. "It really doesn't matter what I do or don't think about. It does matter, however, that you aren't doing anything at all while I'm busting my ass." He leveled a glare at the blonde as she just smiled. "If we don't get this done I am not going to be the one explaining why to your dad."

Rikku groaned and moved to grab a box of her own. "Alright, alright. Just don't think you're getting off easy with this, you'll have to figure out what you're going to do sooner or later; Twilight Town isn't exactly the largest town on the planet." She grinned. "I bet you fifty bucks you run into each other inside of a week."

Hayner snorted. "Even if we did, we wouldn't even recognize each other. Besides, I'm sure he has his own life now and I know I'm going to be too busy to even think about Seifer Almasy."

A few days later, Axel caught up with Seifer again as he was leaving one of his classes at the local college. "'Sup Seif?"

Blue eyes rolled. "Hey Axel."

The tattooed man fell into step next to his friend as they walked. "I stopped by Tifa's place yesterday and saw that a new parts store has just opened up; looks like it has a really good selection of stuff, thought you might want to stop by and take a look."

Seifer gave the red haired man a skeptical look. "Since when do you actually care about stuff like that?" He narrowed his eyes as he studied the grinning man next to him. "Alright, what's really going on?"

Axel grinned sheepishly as he scratched his cheek with one long finger. "Well, I heard that there's some really cute worker there but I don't have any reason to shop there. You use that kind of stuff though so I figured I tell you about the place and then just tag along and see for myself…"

"You really are a piece of work, you know that?"

"So are we going to check the place out or not?"

Shaking his head with a rueful smile, Seifer sighed and gave in. "Fine; we'll swing by the place now and you can ogle the clerk without shame. For all I know you may be right and this shop may be a good place for me to get supplies."

Punching a fist in the air in triumph, Axel grinned and led the way to the street Tifa's café was located on strolling past it towards a shiny new sign for Cid's Parts and Repair Shop. There, standing with his back to the street, was the new clerk Axel had apparently wanted to see. As the young man bent over to pick up part of a display he was putting together, Seifer did have to admit he had a nice ass. Coming closer to the store, the blue eyed man continued to size up the parts of the sandy haired blonde that he could see when a voice from inside the shop stopped him cold.

"HAYNER! WHERE'S THAT BOX I WANTED?"

Hayner straightened with a sigh and turned slightly towards the open door. "It's sitting to the left of the work bench in the back, Uncle Cid."

Axel's mouth was currently hanging open as he realized the young man he, and he was pretty sure Seifer, had been eyeing up was actually Seifer's -former- little brother. Seifer looked as though he was currently having trouble breathing and his eyes were a little wide as Axel leaned over to whisper to him.

"That's your brother? He certainly doesn't look like a little kid, does he?"

No, Seifer silently agreed, whatever else Hayner was, he certainly wasn't a little kid anymore and judging from the desire he unexpectedly felt at the sight of the younger male's face, he wasn't going to be able to think of him as his little brother anymore either.

A/N- All I want for Christmas is Reviews so won't you leave me some? Aside from the other two new stories I have posted, I am working on the next chapter of Across at a good speed and hope to have an update posted shortly after Christmas. Ruin is a little slower but I am working on it. Merry Christmas!